關於"大姨媽"的10個神話傳說(下)

sh Male Menstruation

5.猶太男人的月經

A very weird element of medieval anti-Semitism was the notion that Jewish men menstruated. It can be traced back to Augustinus in the fifth century, who believed that Jewish men suffered "the women's disease." The myth was inspired as much by the notion of women as impure and diseased as it was by hatred of Jews. The supposed loss of blood through menstruation was said to drive Jewish men to seek out the blood of Christian babies to compensate. This is the origin of the blood libel myth that plagued Europe for centuries.

在中世紀的反猶太主義者們有一個很奇特的觀念——猶太族的男人也會來月經！這件事情可以追溯到五世紀的奧古斯汀時代，那時候的人們相信男人也會經歷所謂"女人的災難"。由於人們對女性來月經這件事一直都不看好，再加上他們對猶太人的厭惡，猶太男人來月經這個傳說就變得格外骯髒和變態。據說猶太男人會用基督教嬰兒的血來補償他們"經期失血"。這也是歐洲連續幾世紀血液誹謗罪的來源。

Later thinkers revised the idea, instead believing that Jewish men suffered from Monthly bouts of rectal bleeding, to the extent that suffering from hemorrhoids could be used as evidence in an Inquisition trial of someone suspected of being secretly Jewish. According to Jewish historian Yusef Yurashalmi, Juan de Quinones de Benavente composed an entire treatise in the 17th century trying to prove the idea, implying that, "Jewish males . . . are, in effect, no longer men but women, and the crime of deicide has been punished with castration."

後來研究者們更正了這一觀點，比起相信猶太男人會經歷月事，是否患有痔瘡其實才是在宗教審判中證明一個人是不是未記錄在案的猶太人的證據。猶太曆史學家約瑟夫·約爾沙米和胡安·德·奇諾·德·貝納萬特在十七世紀做了一篇完整的關於這個問題的論文，在這篇文章裏，他們極力證明一種觀點，暗示"事實上，受到割禮懲罰的已經不是猶太男人而是猶太女人和犯罪分子了。"

4.吉哈

The ancient Zoroastrians associated menstruation with the evil god Ahriman. After the good god Ohrmazd, or Ahura Mazda, created the universe, Ahriman immediately attacked it, only to be knocked out for 3,000 years when Ohrmazd recited a sacred prayer. Various demons worked to bring their evil lord out of his stupor, which was finally accomplished by Geh (or Jeh or Jahi), the whore demoness, who promised to bring affliction and pestilence onto righteous men, oxen, and the entire pure world. Her words revived Ahriman, who kissed her on the forehead, and she became the first to be "polluted" by the blood of menstruation, supposedly created to make humans unable to fight against the forces of evil.

古時的瑣羅亞斯德教徒曾將月經視作與惡神阿里曼相關的不潔之物。善神奧爾莫茲德（Ohrmazd，別稱阿胡拉·馬茲達Ahura Mazda）創世後，阿里曼聞聲而動，立刻做出了破世之舉，卻不料奧爾莫茲德以神聖的經文作爲咒語，將其捆縛了3000年。各路魔鬼相繼趕來，想要喚醒這位被封印的"衆魔之主"。最終，女魔頭吉哈（Geh，別稱Jeh、Jahi）立下詛咒：站在正義一方的人畜必將承受災難與瘟疫的折磨，整個光明世界必將成爲修羅場。她的這番惡語喚醒了阿里曼，爲此，阿里曼在她額頭上落下一吻，使之成爲第一位被經血"污染"的生靈。據傳，一旦被經血沾染，人類便會失去與邪惡對抗的力量。

Another version of the myth has Geh becoming Ahriman's chief "whore demon," meant to defile women, who will in turn defile men so they turn away from their proper work. Modern Zoroastrians consider menstrual blood to be nasu, or dead, decaying, polluting materials. Zoroastrian taboos insist upon strict separation of menstruating women: No one may approach within 1 meter (3 ft) of her, she must be handed food on metal plates, and she must avoid meat or invigorating food that may strengthen "the fiend of pollution."

在另一個版本的傳說中，吉哈是阿里曼手下頭號"人盡可夫的女魔頭"，被認爲是骯髒的女人，同她接觸過的男人都會被其玷污，偏離正途。現今的瑣羅亞斯德教徒仍認爲經血是骯髒、死亡及腐朽的介質。瑣羅亞斯德教徒嚴格遵守"隔離經期的女性"的禁忌，即所有人都必須與來月經的女性保持1米（3步）的距離；她們的食物需用金屬託盤盛放；她們不能接觸肉類或新鮮的食物，因爲這樣會加速食物的腐爛。

y The Elder

3.老普林尼

First-century Roman author Pliny the Elder is responsible for a great number of menstruation myths that persisted in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. In his Natural History, Pliny wrote of the destructive power of menstrual blood, which he believed could wither fruit and crops, sour wine, dull mirrors, rust iron and bronze, blunt razors, kill bees, pollute purple fabrics, drive dogs insane, drive off storms and whirlwinds, and cause miscarriage in humans and horses. Having sex with a menstruating woman during a solar or lunar eclipse, he claimed, could lead to disease or death for the male partner. Menstrual blood did have some curative properties, though, curing gout, scrofula, skin growths, erysipelas, fevers, and bites from rabid dogs. It also served as protection against dark magical arts from the East.

說起中世紀時流傳於歐洲的那些關於月經的傳說，恐怕大部分都是生於1世紀的羅馬作家——老普林尼的傑作呢。在他撰寫的《自然史》中，經血被賦予了毀滅性的力量。他認爲經血會使蔬果壞死、莊稼枯萎、美酒變酸、明鏡晦暗、鋼鐵生鏽、剃刀變鈍、蜜蜂死亡。經期的女性若是觸碰織布，會把織布的色彩弄髒；若是撫摸犬類，會使其癲狂；若是坐船，會引來風浪；若是接觸婦女和馬匹，則會讓孕婦和母馬流產。他還聲稱，在日蝕或月蝕期間，男性如果與來月經的女性行房事，輕則惡病纏身，重則一命嗚呼。當然，經血也有一定的醫療功效。它可以被用來治癒痛風、淋巴結核、皮膚增生、丹毒、傷風以及瘋狗的咬傷。它還可以作爲辟邪之物，防範來自東方的黑魔法藝術。

After his exhaustive list of menstrual blood properties, Pliny luridly claimed: "This is all it would be right for me to report and most of that I do not say without shame. That which is left is detestable and unspeakable, and so my work should hasten from the subject of man." Pliny's opinion on the whole matter can best be encapsulated by this passage: "Hardly can there be found a thing more monstrous than is that flux and course of theirs." This would all be frankly laughable if Pliny's beliefs hadn't stayed around for over a millennium before being questioned.

在詳盡地列出經血的特性後，普林尼又出驚人一語："對我而言，說出這一切是正確的，大部分我還沒有說出來的部分也毫無羞恥之處。剩下的不可言喻或是令人嫌惡的內容，也正是我需要加快進度研究男性課題的原因。"普林尼的中心思想可以概括成以下一句："再難發現比她們體內流出的經血及其成因更醜陋的事情了。"即使未被人質疑，普林尼的這一信仰也並未百世流傳，真真是可笑至極。

mami Seclusion

2.亞諾瑪米式隔離

For the Yanomami people of northern Brazil, blood is a symbol of cosmic entropy. Menstruating women and killers who have ingested enemy blood are both known as unokai, which can be translated in the former case as "the state of homicide of women." Both warriors and pubescent girls are considered to have an excess of blood in their bodies and must be isolated and secluded with ritual in order to maintain safety.

對於巴西北部的亞諾瑪米人來說，血液象徵着宇宙中的熵。處於經期時的女性和喝下對手鮮血的殺手都被稱爲"烏諾卡伊"，這個詞指代前者即處於經期的女性時意爲"女殺人犯"。他們認爲戰士和妙齡少女們身體內血量過多，爲了保證安全，必須舉行儀式來隔離他們。

On her first menstruation, a girl must inform her mother, who builds a seclusion hut using leaves from a particular shrub in order to hide the girl from the eyes of men. This is justified by an ancient legend telling of a young girl who was secluded on her first period while the community prepared a ritual feast for visiting guests. After hearing a man shouting, "Every woman without exception must sing and dance," she assumed it was meant for her and emerged from seclusion to join in. The ground immediately turned to mud, and the entire village sank into the underworld and became rocks. To prevent such an outcome, a girl on her first menstruation is subject to a number of ritual obligations: She must be naked, avoid direct contact with water by drinking with a hollow cane pushed deep into her mouth, may speak only in a whisper, and is limited to a diet of plantains and the occasional crab shell. If she does not properly complete her seclusion, it is believed that she will prematurely age and become an old woman.

女孩初次來潮時，必須告訴自己的母親，爲了女兒不被男人看見，母親會用一種特殊的灌木葉子爲她搭一個小隔離棚。這種做法來源於一個古代傳說：以前，一個年輕女孩正因初潮被隔離時，部落裏有賓客來訪，人們都忙着爲來賓籌備禮宴。這時女孩聽到一個男人大叫"所有女人必須出來唱歌跳舞，沒有例外"，女孩以爲她也必須出席，所以出了棚子跳舞去了。與此同時，大地頃刻化爲泥沼，整個村子沉入地下與石頭融爲一體。爲了防止這種情況再次發生，初次來潮的女孩必須遵循一系列的儀式條例：她必須一絲不掛；爲了防止她與水源直接接觸，她只能喝人們從棚外用一根空心杖送到她嘴邊的水；她不能大聲說話；日常三餐只能吃大蕉，偶爾加餐能吃點蟹殼。人們相信，如果她不按規矩完成隔離，她將會早衰，變成一個老太婆。

khya

1.迦梨女神

In Sakta Tantra, the menstrual cycle in the female body represents the changing seasons and universal order. It is particularly associated with the goddess Kamakhya, or Mother Shakti, whose Kamarupa temple is located in Gauhati, in India's Assam state. At the annual, three-day Ambubachi Mela festival in August or September, the goddess's yoni (vagina or womb) is believed to manifest itself on Earth, attracting tens of thousands of devotees every year. At the Kamarupa temple, a stone of red arsenic, said to be the yoni of the dismembered goddess Sati, flows with red water during this time. The temple is closed for three days as orthodox rituals are carried out inside. On the fourth day, the doors are opened, and devotees are allowed to receive darsan (blessing via viewing the goddess through red cloth), prasad (blessed food), and maybe a piece of red cloth from her sari, representing fecundity.

印度古籍《沙格蒂坦特羅》中認爲，人們認爲女性的月經週期象徵着季節變更以及宇宙秩序。經期與迦梨女神有着特殊的關聯，迦梨女神又被稱爲夏克提（性力女神），她的迦摩縷波神殿位於阿薩姆省高哈蒂。每年八月或九月會舉行爲期三天的迦梨女神節，女神的外陰像（陰道或是子宮）被公之於衆，吸引了數以萬計的信徒前來瞻仰。 迦摩縷波神殿中有一尊據傳是薩提女神外陰的紅信石，在女神節期間會流出紅色液體。因爲傳統儀式在殿內進行時，所以神殿會關閉三天。在第四天，殿門大開，信徒可以沾光得福（得以透過紅布見女神一面，從而得到庇護），領到佈施, 或者有幸得到女神莎麗上一塊象徵生殖力的紅布。

In tantric alchemy, the goddess's uterine blood is associated with red arsenic, and it is believed to have healing powers, particularly curing people suffering from leucodermia, as well as the ability to transmute metals into gold. Some extremist Tantrics believe that the Ambubachi festival is the best time of year to commit human sacrifices, which are generally frowned upon these days. One mystic even tried to sacrifice his 18-month-old daughter at the temple, slicing at her neck with a razor before temple officials intervened, and the man was arrested.

在密宗鍊金術中，女神的子宮經血象徵着雄黃，據傳有治癒能力，特別是針對白斑病有奇效，還有點石成金的魔力。一些極端的坦陀羅相信迦梨女神節是一年中獻祭活人的最好時刻，而對於現代人來說，這是很難以理解的舉動。有一個神祕主義者奉上自己18個月大的女兒作爲祭品，並試圖用剃刀割她的脖子，直到被殿內工作人員發現並及時制止後將他抓捕入獄。

審校：梅子九 編輯：listen 來源：前十網